The Kennedy Instruments Ltd
(KI) Monobar 35mm camera was first produced in 1958 and continued
in production until 1965. By 1967 it was being sold as redundant
stock by Martson & Heard for £60 (see Amateur Photographer
magazine for 6th September 1967), against the previous list price
of £180 (£150 for the camera and £30 for the
film back).

It provided the range of lens
panel movements normally associated with a large plate 'field'
camera (see below, RHS). This made it suitable for technical,
architectural, medical and other specialised uses. It had a rising
and falling front, swing and tilt, with the same movements at
the rear, plus 360degree revolving back and ground glass screen
with magnifier. The bellows provided a 12" extension. A
precision pan & tilt head was included.

The Amateur Photographer magazine
Cameras Guide supplement for 8th June 1960 describes two variants.
The Monobar Type U, with the full range of movements (1½"
rise and 30deg vertical and horizontal swing movements either
way) and the Type F, which was a simplified version for
photomicrography, macrophotography and copying, where no 'correcting
movements' were required.

Click the small picture (left) or here to download
a copy of the original instruction booklet for the Type U &
Type F Monobars.

This booklet was made available
by Emrys Sparks, who used a Type F for nearly 30years in his
job of Director of Medical Photography and TV at St Mary's Medical
School.

Emrys has kindly provided me
with a short account of his working arrangements at St Mary's,
including use of the Type F.Click here to read
that information on a separate web page.

The three pictures
above are courtesy of Doug McKee. The picture alongside has been
extracted from the internet. My thanks to the owner of this image,
which will be removed if anyone claims copyright.

Two more pictures,
below, from Doug McKee. The first (left) shows his earliest Type
U Monobar (Doug has two - note the 'bag' bellows compared to
the illustrations above) while to the right is the 'simplified'
Type F, as purchased from Emrys Sparks. To view a webpage showing
all of the Monobar equipment purchased by Doug from Emrys, click here.

The 1962 British
Journal Photographic Annual (BJPA) described the ILFORD KI
Monobar Cameras as in the following text.Please Note: the picture below is courtesy of Doug McKee,
scanned from an original Ilford colour brochure but showing,
apparently, the same (prototype ?) version as in the lower quality
image that appeared in the 1962 BJPA article. Thus, for the sake
of enhanced visibility, the image below has been used in place
of that in the BJPA.

"This camera is manufactured
by Kennedy Instruments Ltd, and is an attempt to provide the
technical movement features usually only available in the larger
format apparatus which has always held un-disputed sway in this
field-for very good reasons. The problems of manufacture with
the necessary precision are great enough in the production of
the ordinary miniature with straightforward die-cast body and
permanently fixed lens flange; when to this precision is added
the requirements of accurate register of an interchangeable film
magazine and ground-glass viewing system, provision of movements
which can be zeroed with accuracy after much use and without
developing any play etc., it is no wonder that the 35 mm technical
camera is so rare, and that its price in this instance should
be £180 without lens.

What
advantage can there be in the use of this format? This is probably
the first question to come to mind. There is naturally the time-honoured
one of film cost economy, and for some purposes the possibility
of direct production of 35 mm colour slides. In addition there
is the decrease in size, the KI bar is about 12 in. long, and
the height without the rises is 9 in. In scientific work, the
manoeuvrability of the camera and the consequent ease with which
it can be incorporated in experimental set-ups will be found
particularly welcome. The same comment applies to photomicrography
and photomacrography, although here the full range of camera
movements are not required, and the model type F without these
is recommended by the makers. As regards industrial photography,
the restriction of lens focal length must be taken into account;
the shortest focal length which can be fitted is 2 inches (50
mm). This means that the range is over the long focus, and the
wide-angle type cannot be fitted; this limitation is not insuperable
for the availability of retro-focus wide-angle lenses in between-lens
shutters would overcome it quite simply.

The llford Monobar camera weighs
about 9 lb (4kg), it fits into a poorly-made, composition case
which has no carrying handle. (If this camera were Continental
in origin, it would come in a superb practical carrying case,
one look at which would prepare one for the first-class instrument
inside). The lens-panel, bellows, back-plate, and movement control
knobs are finished in black; the front and back forks, the pan
and tilt head and film magazine are in the cream of the old Advocate
cameras, whilst the bar and its bearings are polished metal.

Movements provided are as follows:
rise and fall of front and back over a range of l½ in.;
the horizontal and vertical tilt or swing move-ments on front
and back all move through 30°, calibrated at 10° and
5° intervals. The monobar is graduated in centimetres and
millimetres, and the bearing blocks carrying front and rear panels
have index marks to enable readings to be made for front and
back focusing. The back is fully revolving and has index marks
for the horizontal and vertical formats, whether the back is
rotated to the left or to the right. In addition to front and
back focusing the whole assembly can be moved on the bar back
or forward.

All these movements move with
precision and bode well for a long life, there is no trace of
backlash, and if this should develop eventually there are spring
tensioning screws which would reset the original inertia. The
movements operating from the rack and pinion can be locked when
set by other milled knobs below the control ones; the actual
rack and pinion seems to be of the soft metal bearing on hard,
essential for minimum wear. One would suggest some difference
in styling or diameter should be made between the various control
knobs, as one is rather inclined to turn the wrong one in setting
up for exposure, perhaps with longer acquaintance this difficulty
would not arise.

The film magazine is of very
sturdy design; it is opened by turning two coin-fitting screws
at each end; there is a removable film carriage and pressure
plate system into which the film is loaded, this presses the
film into register on rails in the front of the magazine. Before
exposure, a milled penny-sized wheel is turned anti-clockwise
to open a shutter on the front of the magazine, and of course
must be closed again before removing the magazine or changing
the lens. Focusing is done, by the aid of a magnifier, on the
ground glass screen incorporated on a spring-loaded slide, which
enables it to be pulled back and the magazine substituted. The
magazine locates directly by facing up to the camera back and
has a light-tight insetting; it is held in place by returning
the focusing screen assembly behind it and engaging a spring
clip. Some improvement should be possible in this method, it
is sometimes a little easy to think that the clip is engaged,
when in fact it is not quite home.

The KI Monobar is built on
a pan and tilt head with bar-locks; mounted on a suitable tripod
this forms a completely effective support for the instrument.
The general impression is of superb workmanship, there are one
or two criticisms that can naturally be made, for example, the
magnifier is not full-field; this may necessitate its withdrawal
for camera alignment and then replacement for focusing a number
of times before exposure. Also on many occasions the exact field
depth must be ascertained, and in the 35 mm size this is almost
impossible without a magnifier over the whole field. For the
same reason a condenser lens with a ground piano-surface might
be suggested as an alternative to ground glass to give better
brightness with the small lens apertures often used in working
with a technical camera.

In summary, one can echo the
opinion the makers express in their leaflet: 'it is an extremely
flexible instrument which makes 35 mm applied photography simple
and precise. It is the perfect camera for 35 mm technical photography
in otherwise difficult or inaccessible places.'